Sniper
by elfbs
Summary: Time travel. If asked, people probably would presume it involved big shows of lighting, air ripples, distortions of the whatever continuum and so on. And they would all be wrong. Ruby Rose knew that and how could she not? She just travelled 30 years in the past. [Time travel fix-it-all][past!Ruby x Weiss][future!Ruby x Weiss]


**A/n: This strange thing was supposed to be a cracked little piece, playing with the Time travel trope. "Why bother with convoluted plans when you can just kill all the baddies?"**

**Then I HAD to add explainations and close plot holes and justify feebles plot devices. And when I was almost done, my beta HAD to say "You know, I'd like to see more of what's going on in Ruby's mind."**

**Well, this is the result. Hope you'll like it.**

**Again, a big big "thank you" to PhoenixNext for beta-reading it and resist the impulse to hurt me. And to my guest beta YuuShiro, now you know what Phoenix had to endure all this time.**

**I don't own RWBY, or WhiteRose would aready be canon.**

-o-o-o-

SNIPER

Time travel. If asked, people probably would presume it involved big shows of lighting, air ripples, distortions of the whatever continuum and so on. And they would all be wrong. You just had to take a step and that was it, before you aren't there, then you are. Ruby Rose knew that and how could she not? She just travelled 30 years in the past. First hand experience, always the best teacher.

A quick check to ensure she was still 'whole' - as much as it was possible to be at this point at least, she hadn't felt whole for a long time. But hey, 3 decades of war and she was still somewhat sane, no small feat - and she was on the move. No time like the present... well, the past to change the timeline, right? right.

Landing on the top of a building had been a pleasant stroke of luck, it took her just a look around to confirm she was in Vale, as for the date, that had yet to be seen.

And speaking of time, she took out from a hidden pocket a small flat box. On the display, some green numbers read 99% as expected. Good.

Pocketing back the box, she walked to the edge of the roof... and didn't stop. Free falling from a ten story building might not be considered the safest way to reach the street level, but surely was the fastest.

When she reached the second floor, she simply smashed her right hand in the wall. Unyielding metal fingertips dug into the concrete slowing her until she stopped just two scant meters from the street and yet, Ruby showed no reaction. Not a drop of sweat, not a sigh of relief not even the smallest smile. On her face, only her permanent frown.

Letting go of the wall, she landed without making any noise, something she learnt from Blake. As she patted the dust away, she took a long glance to her hands. Her left, pale skin full of scars, small and flat or large and raised, palm and fingers hardened by years of holding her scythe. To the right, cold scratched metal painted in black and yellow. When she lost it, she insisted to replace it with Yang's prosthetic one. Not that her sister could have used it anymore, since she was already dead. The only upgrade she did was embedding Myrtenaster dust chamber in it.

Weiss would have been proud of her, of how good she had become in using dust. Too bad she never had a chance to see it. Ruby had been disappointed when she couldn't salvage anything from Blake's weapon, the only thing they found of her were some frayed chunks of her ribbon that she immediately used to make herself a new eyepatch. She swore that the phantom itch that had been tormenting her for years faded the moment she put it on.

The doctors talked about placebo effect and/or psychosomatic reactions. She didn't care. For her it meant that her teammates were still with her. Team RWBY was still around kicking asses.

Ruby shook her head, memory lane was a nice place to visit, but she had a mission and - ironically - time was against her.

Walking around for a bit gave her the opportunity - in the form of a man reading a newspaper - to learn the current date and her frown deepened a little. Somewhere in the city a fifteen years old huntress-in-the-making was fighting a bunch of thugs and a self appointed crime lord but there was nothing she could do about it. It was something that must happen, or the girl wouldn't be noticed by a certain self-righteous headmaster who wouldn't invite her to join his school two years earlier and she wouldn't meet some of the most important people in her life.

No, Ruby had to let Roman Torchwick get into that helicopter and flee. Besides, this course of action would lead him exactly where she was, waiting for him.

She used that spare time to get ready, finding the best vantage point on the roof of a nearby warehouse, she unfolded Crescent Rose in _her_ rifle form (yeah, her weapon was a _she_, so what?). Trained hands quickly performed a routine check up while her frown lightened slightly. Working on her sweetheart never failed to put her in a good mood.

Lastly, she loaded a magazine of fast-bullets, something the eggheads developed specifically for her. Well, her semblance. Bah, same difference.

Whatever, that had been a funny moment. For a long time after discovering her semblance, everybody - Ruby included - thought it was just _speed_. Well, that wasn't exactly wrong, it was just missing a little vital information. While it was true that it gives her the power to run at a breakneck speed, it also could be 'transferred' to things in her immediate surroundings. Best if she was touching them, but it wasn't a requirement. When she first realized it, she wanted to bang her head against a wall, hard and repeatedly, because in hindsight it was _so_ obvious. If not, how could her clothes resist the sudden acceleration? How could all the people she carried survive instead of having their innards squeezed out? Oh well, as the saying goes, hindsight IS 20/20, so she gave up on the 'headbang project' and focused on this newly opened field of possible uses instead.

One of the things she tried was to speed up bullets. It worked almost flawlessly. Almost. True, her shots traveled farther, or hit with a lot more _oomph_, but there were two major drawbacks. First, more speed meant more friction and more friction meant less accuracy. Second, the bullets that actually hit the marks tended to shatter on impact. Not good.

And then she talked about it with some man in the R&D department, who - after a couple of weeks - presented her with the new state-of-the-art (his words) _high speed impact resistant projectiles_. Or, how she called them to his chagrin, fast-bullet. They ran straight, they hit hard, they didn't break. Few things could hope to stop them. Aura wasn't among them, which she soon discovered, and that made her the most dangerous weapon on Remnant.

A weapon junkie becoming a weapon herself. Probably there was something poetic in it, or at least ironic. She didn't care, it just meant she could dispatch her targets more easily. Speaking of which…

From behind a corner, Torchwick came into view, strutting like he didn't have a care in the world twirling his damn stick. Skipping alongside him was Neo, as sweet and deadly as a girl could ever be. In short, Ruby's marks for the day.

Most people thought that a sniper needed just patience and steady hands. Amateurs.

Real snipers study their targets, learn their habits, their personalities, their quirks and what makes them tick. It is fundamental when you have just a single target, it has to be the air you breathe when you got more than one. When you have just moments between a killing shot and the other, you have to know how the - temporary - survivor will react. Make it quick. Make it easy.

And Ruby knew _a lot _about the duo. Neo was more lethal than Torchwick and her semblance could pose a problem, so she should have to be her first mark, right? Wrong. Taking her out first would alarm Roman, who wouldn't waste even a second to check on his companion and would run for safety instead. Lovely bastard.

Neo, on the other hand - for reasons Ruby never learnt - truly cared for him. Should she see him fall, she would lose it even if only for a moment. And that single instant of distraction was everything Ruby needed.

Only the metal noise of the bolt could be heard, the suppressor took care of the actual bangs.

*_whomp* - ka-tlack - *whomp*_

When they touched the ground, they were already dead. Ruby didn't bat an eye.

She left them in the middle of the road, not bothering to hide the corpse. Roman and Neo had so many enemies, so many people that hated them it was a wonder they lasted for so long. Everybody knew it, even Cinder Fall and her Mistress Salem, so there was no risk they would read too much into it. Morons.

Oh, well, even if they did, they were going to join Roman and Neo in hell very soon.

Looking away from the two dead bodies, Ruby folded her weapon and hung it on her back. This job was done, the targets were down. There was only one thing left to do. She searched the pocket where she usually keep it, not finding anything. Her frown got progressively worse as she patted every single nook and remaining pockets, but still coming empty handed.

"_No. Nononononono. I can't have done it! no way, no way._" Her inner voice edging to panic. Done with the search, she took a few calming breaths. "_Stop. Relax. Don't let it get to you. There's no problem, you can buy some here. See? No problem at all._"

Despite her self-pep talk, there actually was a problem, she didn't have any usable currency. But just some feet below there were two ex-people who wouldn't mind lending her some.

With the plan in mind, she rapidly descended to street level and a quick frisking of once-Torchwick gave her what she was looking for: a wallet full of liens. She didn't feel very bad robbing a dead man, it wasn't like Roman could use them anymore, after all.

In a matter of minutes, she was back on the roof, with her boon safely held in her hand. Matchsticks.

She took out two, one for Torchwick and one for Neo, lit them and let them burn out until they weren't anything more than little scraps of black. Yeah, yeah, she knew it was stupid, but she met a lot of other snipers and every single one of them had his own quirks. This was hers..

It was her private little ritual, something she end up with along the years, like she was... sending her targets' souls away? Commemorating the lives she snuff out? That didn't matter, what mattered was the act itself. And sure, it was irrational, but if it helped her feel better, was she going to complain? Nope.

She watched as the last lick of fire was blown out by a gentle breeze, then she stood up from the crouching seat she was in and patted her hands clean. Time to move on.

-o-o-o-

Finding Cinder and her cronies didn't take long. Deciding the best way to deal with them was a different story. Emerald was easy, take down Cinder and she would react as Neo. The variables were Cinder herself and Mercury Black.

Black was a trained assassin, all instinct and deeply ingrained reaction. At the first sign of danger, he too would run and hide, Ruby would lose him and then she would have to waste time - precious time - to track him down.

Cinder, on the other hand, did have the powers of a Maiden. True, just half, but they still might shield her if used wisely. Luckily, she was also too full of herself to be wise. Ruby couldn't be 100% sure, but there was a high chance she wouldn't run, confident she could burn away any trouble that would dare to face her. In a way, she reminded Ruby of Yang. Her sister had to lose an arm to learn her lesson. She would make sure Cinder wouldn't learn anything at all.

*_whomp_*

Half of Mercury's brain splattered on the ground, one down, Cinder was next.

Ruby knew aiming directly at her wasn't the best idea, the flames she already summoned were promising all sorts of troubles.

*_whomp_*

The lamppost above Emerald exploded in a rainfall of glass shards. Before they could scatter, two fireballs caused them to evaporate. Ruby had to give it to her, Cinder had good reflexes and she was powerful too. But she wasn't a warrior, or she wouldn't have lost track of her surroundings giving Ruby the opening she needed.

*_whomp_*

A bloody flower bloomed on Cinder's dress, red on red. Emerald screamed and ran to the fallen Fall (ha-ha), forgetting where she was.

*_whomp_*

The fourth and last shot traveled through her skull and impacted on the nearest wall, bringing along a red eye. Not really, it'd been immediately reduced to sludge, but it made for a nice image.

Her work was almost done for the night, she had only to hide the bodies. Their assignments often made difficult to keep in touch, some days of radio silence wouldn't raise any suspicion. By the time Salem would acknowledge something was wrong, Ruby's work should have been almost done.

As for the actual hiding, the old Vale sewage system was a gift from heaven. Open a lid, throw whatever inside and close it. It was such a maze down there that nothing would resurface before 6 months minimum.

She was just a few steps away from the corpses when a bright light surged out from Cinder's body, shot up in the sky and quickly disappeared in Beacon's direction. It seemed that Amber was going to get back the missing half of her powers, something Ruby hoped for but was too cautious to take for granted. Well, that was good news.

With the three corpse now happily floating in the sewers, immediately followed by three more matchsticks, Ruby was done with the small fries. It was time to start the real _fun_. And speaking of time…

She took out the little display, it read 73% making Ruby frown, she'd been sloppy. True, she still had an ample margin, but she wasn't the type to waste time. At least traveling wasn't going to be a problem.

That said, she had a more urgent matter to take care of: a very rumbling and very demanding empty stomach. Running around in Vale and the high level of focus her job required took their toll on her energy reservoir, but at least _this _problem had an easy solution in the form of a standard ration bar.

She walked a little distance, because, really, loitering around the place where you just dispatched three people wouldn't have been the smartest idea. Climbing on top of a roof she sat down on its edge, her legs dangling in the void. Finally able to relax, she bit away a good chunk of her _meal_ and for the uptheenth time she marveled at the taste. It wasn't good, it was _delicious_!

She shivered at the memory of the tons of cardboard and/or sand flavored field ration she consumed in the early years. Generations after generations of hunters, soldiers, mercenaries and so on prayed in vain to the gods for food that wouldn't kill their taste buds. Idiots.

It required a world war, the biggest think-tank humanity had ever seen and a slightly manipulative man - The Brothers bless his name forever - to get things right. Legends say that once this wicked man gave one of those ominous ration bars to an egghead, implying that very soon they too will have to rely on those to survive. In less than a week the whole team of scientists had ready a process to make rations faster, cheaper and absolutely delicious. Best research of that wicked pool of brainiacs ever.

Her frown softened a little - Ruby's version of a small smile since… a long time. Being a weapon junkie meant she spent most of her free time down in the R&D department, always trying to take a peek at the newest projects. Some were surprisingly down-to-earth, like her bullets or the rations. Some were… questionable, like that guy who kept muttering about flying monkeys. Sure, he was also working with some weird drugs, but still…

Then there were those that were guaranteed to change the course of the war… on paper. The anti-grimm virus, capable of quickly consuming any grimm it came in contact with, could have been a gift from the gods, if it weren't for two _menial_ downsides. It NEEDED grimm flesh to stay alive, or it would dissipate immediately, so no gas-grenades. Then they thought to make special bullets and fill them with it, too bad that to make just 10 the amount of dust they consumed could have powered Vale for a year.

The time machine had been another flop, fucking butterfly effect! While sending someone back in time was surprisingly easy, the moment they step in the past they became a paradox, and they instantly ceased to exist. Useless… until they create a device to 'copy' semblances into a portable gimmick.

For the first test Ruby 'volunteered' her dear aunty Raven, after beating her senseless. Not her fault if the bitch decided to resist the apprehension. Turned out that it didn't actually 'copy' the semblance, but sucked it out entirely, leaving behind a neat corpse. Ruby didn't lose even a minute of sleep for the woman who hurt Yang.

Given that they couldn't find people keen on giving up their lives for science, they mothballed that too until they accidentally stumbled on a scrawny boy with a very peculiar ability: phasing out of reality while still being able to interact with the world around him. Absolutely useless, since he could still be killed like everyone else, but what if someone would phase out while - for example - traveling back in time? Easy answer, they would be able to spit in the face of every paradox and time-continuum preservation laws (or some other sci-fi mumbo jumbo like that. She was sniper, for the Brothers sake, not a fucking physicist/scientist/whatever). Being there-but-not-really would allow them to make actual _changes_ to history and with the help of a solid plan avoid millions of deaths.

When Ruby was chosen for the most important mission in the history of Remnant, she didn't think about millions, just a handful. All Ruby wanted to save were her friends, teammates and another bunch of people that had been taken from her. If in the process the rest of the world would be saved as well, even better.

Anyway, one or one million, she wasn't going to save anyone sitting on her butt - literally. With a couple of pats to sweep away the crumbs, she stood and took out her scroll. A quick tapping on the digital map and a purplish portal opened in front of her (take that, flying bitch. We took your semblance and made it easy to use!). Next stop: Adam Taurus.

Taurus wasn't just an asshole, he was also a functional nutjob. He was so lost in his delusional revenge against humanity that he would do anything just to kill and maim. It was his fault - in a couple of months - Vale was going to be raided by a horde of grimms. Not going to happen, not if Ruby could avoid it. And she could.

Hiding under the ruins of Mt. Glenn probably seemed a good idea to him. Yeah, sure, a cave with no easy escape filled to the brim with crates of dust. Very volatile and explosive dust.

And, again, thanks to Raven's semblance she didn't even need to find a vantage point with a safe escape route. The portal was already glimmering behind her when she aimed at the crate right in front of Adam.

*_whomp_*

A jump backward and she was perched on a ledge near Mt. Glenn, taking out a can of soda from her backpack to celebrate the _amazing fireworks_, when finally the top of the hill exploded with dust-induced natural rage. Lo and behold, Ruby decided that it would be a good replacement for her little lit-the-match ritual, the fact that it spared her the effort to burn dozen of them was absolutely not the reason. And come on, cut her some slack, she wasn't even sure how many of them she would have to lit up. Anyway, there couldn't be any survivors, not Adam, not the idiots of the White Dong. Bonus point, not even a certain bastard with a chainsword sword. She flexed the fingers of her prosthetic hand, it was nice to know that present-Ruby wouldn't have to go through _that_ experience.

As the light show was starting to dwindle, Ruby emptied the can and let out a soft burp. Heh, Weiss would cuff her head and start a tirade on how a proper lady should conduct herself. Brothers, she missed her so much.

With a sigh, she put the empty can back in her sack - no way she would leave her litter behind - it wasn't the time to lose herself in regrets, mourning and self-pity, she had a job to do. And a choice to make.

The next two targets didn't have to be dealt in a precise order, the details of her mission left to her the choice based on what would suit the situation better, taking into account her location, reactions to the previous strikes, other unknown events, even the weather condition. Everything should be considered before taking the optimal decision.

Ruby flipped a coin. Head for Jacques Schnee; tail for Sienna Khan. How fitting.

-o-o-o-

Ruby didn't like Atlas. Sure, she'd been amazed the first time she saw the floating island, but the wonder was short lived. It wasn't a kingdom, it was more like a machine, a contraption where its own people were like gears and pullers. Cold, emotionless, choked by skyscrapers and modern, uninspiring buildings. Even the few gardens seemed fake.

No, she really didn't like Atlas, nor did she like the job she was going to do. It wasn't because she was going to take a life, obviously, nor the person she was going to kill. It was the way she would have to do it. Or maybe it _was_ about the person, since that was the reason she would have to change her M.O.

Jacques Schnee. A real bastard. A monster, by Weiss' own words. In truth, he didn't have much longer to live, in future-Ruby timeline he was going to be murdered in a little more than a year. Problem was that in that short timespan he did so much damages that even when his wife Willow - the real Schnee, by the way, so the one that should have been in charge right from the start - took the reins of the SDC she couldn't do anything. Remnant was already on the brink of a total war and her actions and changes were seen as a way to bail the Schnee family out of the heat. So, Jacquass had to go, that she understood (and wholeheartedly agreed with).

What she didn't like was that she couldn't just put a bullet in his stony heart and leave, nope. Everyone would quickly blame the White Tossers and - guilty by allegedly association - all the faunus population. In her world the ensuing riots escalated quickly into a racial war and when they were at their lowest Salem struck with hordes over hordes of grimms.

So, with the _assassination_ option off the table, she was forced to make it seem as an accident. And since she had to be SURE that no one could raise even the barest of suspicion, there was just one and only place to make it happen: Schnee Manor.

And so, Jacques Schnee met his demise in a very boring way: he 'slipped' in the shower, cracking his head open. With a little help of a well placed portal and an equally well placed push from a certain red-caped time traveller, of course, but since it happened in his private bathroom - a place that was off-limits when he was in his quarters - no one suspected anything.

Coincidentally - and with no little disgust - she also discovered that yes, all those big and expensive things he always boasted about were indeed a form of compensating.

The following week, the faunus celebrated the end of a tyranny, Willow Schnee became the CEO of a still-salvageable SDC and Weiss… didn't give a fuck. Three hurra for Ruby Rose.

And yet… Weiss. It had been what? Fifteen years? But the thought of her long lost princess still made her heart ache. Actually, that was the only thing that could force more tears out of Ruby. She assumed she had already shed all of them, but it seemed she kept a special reserve for Weiss.

And as unusually usual, they came only from her missing eye. Just a few drops, but enough to soak the ribbon, making it heavier, uncomfortable. Gloomy, exactly like Blake was when she was depressed, whispering about regrets and missing chances. Not like Yang, her sister had always been more vocal when her emotions hit the rooftop. And as her prosthetic hand started creaking, Ruby felt a strong reminder of the few times her sister broke down in front of her.

Nothing like Weiss. For how far she went in accepting that feelings and emotions weren't a liability, she always had a hard time dealing with them. The chill radiating from Myrtenaster revolving chamber was like the cold facade Weiss put on trying to protect herself. Funny, though, she shouldn't be able to feel anything from that hand.

Ruby sighed, this wouldn't do. She was supposed to carry out her mission, and here she was instead, dragging her team down. She patted her cheeks, trying to chase the dark feelings away "C'mon girls, we have better things to do than being all mopey! Team RWBY saving the world again. Banzai!"

It worked. Yang creaked happily and Weiss' cold aura dissipated, leaving behind her usual aloofness. Blake was still gloomy, as she always was, only without the depressing vibe. The ribbon made her skin itchy in protest, but Ruby dismissed it with a light scratch. "Oh, drop it, Blake. We both know I'm right." Blake didn't answer, but the itchy sensation subsided.

In a hidden, remote corner of her mind Ruby knew that there was something a little off with her. Once a therapist told her, with all the kindness an atlesian could show (read: none) that she was delusional, that her team was gone and she had to let him _fix_ her. Ruby replied with all the tact she could muster (read: even less) that if he tried to split her from her team she would make him eat his own innards. Surprisingly, she never saw him again.

She might have been a nutjob, but she could easily complete her missions _and_ be somewhat functional and happy, why change? Her teammates were dead, sure, but as long as they were together, everything would be fine. And if there was a contradiction in that, she would gladly ignore it.

She stretched with some satisfying pops from her spine, it was time to go. A last look to Schnee Manor, a pat on her own shoulder for a job well done, and Ruby was already on the road for the other side of that coin, leaving behind only another burnt match.

-o-o-o-

Everyone thought that Sienna Khan was hiding in some gods-forgotten hole in Vacuo, being the most dangerous and less traveled kingdom on Remnant it was a fair guess. Also, absolutely wrong, since the bitch never left Menagerie. In Ruby's eyes, _that_ was the perfect place to set up the White Morons' HQ, with its rocky inland and no humans in sight for miles. Actually, almost no humans at all, the few who dared to reach the faunus' (forced) homeland stuck near the coast, did their business and left as soon as possible with little to no contact with the locals. The smart ones, at least. The others didn't last long enough to actually become a problem.

Of course that wasn't an issue for a badass huntress with decades of experience under her belt AND a teleporting device. Ruby actually felt a little bad for abusing it, like she was cheating. Only for a moment, then she shrugged and went on studying her prey.

Going for the bastard first had the unexpected - and much appreciated - consequence of giving her a good opportunity to take care of Khan. As with Jacquass, Sienna had to go quietly, no need to make it look like a sort of revenge against the faunus, and before landing on Menagerie Ruby had no idea of how she would pull that off. The White Asses's HQ was a fortress, with very few entry points and tight security. Usually.

What she found was an army of celebrating people in varying degrees of alcohol-induced stupor on a three-days long (and counting) celebration for the death of Jacques. Sure, the entry points were still few, but the security? Saying it was almost not-existing would have been kind.

With a rough sketch of a plan in mind, Ruby only had to wait for Sienna to serve her the perfect opportunity. It didn't take long. That very night a highly imbibed Sienna collapsed onto her own bed, passing out in a matter of seconds. True, there _were_ some guards just outside the door, but Ruby wasn't planning to use it at all.

From the higher ground of her vantage point, all she had to do was opening a portal right inside the room, pick up Sienna and go back. From there, she opened another one to give her access to the fortress roof, where she dropped her and it was done. Drunk person and very high and steep roof, the perfect recipe for a deadly disaster.

Again in her hiding place, keeping her scroll ready, Ruby made herself comfortable and waited to record the final moments of Sienna Khan and her inglorious death. The video went viral in just one hour, and while people argued if that person was really the late leader of the White Shits (yeah, she was calling them names on purpose, sue her) everyone agreed it had been an accident caused by too much alcohol. Funny enough, just very few questioned the very existence of the video, why it had been taken and by who, but they were quickly dismissed as conspiratorial nut-cases. Yeah, people were idiots like that.

As for Ruby, with Sienna's matchstick gone too, she was finally on the last leg of her journey. Last stop, the bitchiest of the bitches: the grimm-queen Salem. She only had to travel to an uncharted land, avoid the horde of grimms roaming the place, find a good vantage point on a mostly-flat terrain and dispatch an immortal being and her servants.

It was going to be FUN!

With a hop, a skip, some well placed portals and a couple of too close encounters, the ominous form of Salem's palace was finally in sight. As she already knew, there weren't any cliffs or raises to climb on, but the building itself was full of towers and nooks where she could find shelter, waiting for the happy bunch of future cadavers to gather in the assembly hall.

Munching on another bar, she used that time to review what she knew about the _monsters_ she was going to face, besides the pale bitch. Tyrian Callows was probably the worst, an unpredictable, complete nutcase. But he was also hopelessly devoted to his queen, so there was a good chance he would jump in to shield her.

Arthur Watss was, instead, the easiest to read: he was a coward, acting all high and mighty only when he was sure to have his back covered. At the first sign of danger, he would run.

And then there was Hazel Rainart. He would be difficult to take down, but she was sure she could, leaving him for last would give her all the time she needed to pepper him with bullets. Her problem was that she wasn't sure she actually _wanted _to kill him. Even in her timeline, if he had the choice he never took a life, always trying to simply put his challengers out of commission. True, sometimes they ended out forever, but still alive. Ruby herself had been graced by his mercy and while it hurt like hell she knew he could have killed her, but choose not to. After all, he was there only for a chance to avenge his sister's death, another casualty in one of Ozpin's many schemes. And she could relate with anyone who had a bone to pick with the headmaster.

Anyway, he would come last, and in regard of the other three...

She drew up a strategy, prepared accordingly and settle down for her wait.

She wasn't sure how long she had to wait, but finally there was movement. Through the high stained glass windows she could see the door to the assembly hall opening and the people she was waiting for flowing in, Salem ahead, the other three in tow. She readied her rifle and took aim.

Her plan required a _creative_ loading of Crescent Rose's clip and no space for mistakes. The first bullet was for Salem, one of the few anti-grimm ones she still had.

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

Salem was _fast_, Ruby knew it, and reacted even before the bullet could reach her. What was funny was that even if she was a half-grimm monster, even with all her power, even if she had declared war against the entire Remnant and its gods, she was still human enough to be predictable. As she sensed the danger, the first instinct had been to protect herself starting from her upper part - head, torso and so on. That's why Ruby aimed to a foot. Salem barely frowned at the injury and prepared to retaliate. Ruby ignored her, Watss was already running for the door.

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

The second bullet in the magazine was a normal fast-one, more than enough for the slimy bastard. It went straight through his neck, destroying his spine. The doctor was out.

And now, it was time to see if her gamble was going to pay off. Worst case scenario, she would have to face the remaining three together and she knew she wouldn't make it. But if she was right…

A scream of pain echoed in the high ceiled hall, and Ruby almost smirked with satisfaction. The grimm-eating virus was finally doing its work, devouring Salem's foot from the inside and spreading up through her leg. That distracted both Hazel and Tyrian long enough.

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

Third bullet, another fast one. It caught Tyrian on its temple, converting his brain into pudding. Well, the little bit that wasn't _already_ pudding.

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

*_whomp* - ka-tlack_

Four shots, four hits, her last anti-grimm bullets, all for Salem. One in her belly, one in her heart, two for her brain. The virus would spread quickly everywhere inside her, eating away all the grimm-cells it would find. At the same time, Salem's healing ability would constantly trying to replace those cells, giving the virus even more material to feed on, leaving her locked in a perpetual cycle of death and regeneration. Ruby didn't know if Salem could still feel pain, one can always hope, but the multitude of grimms linked to her could and the screeching wailing rising through the air all around the castle proved it. With a bit of luck, in their pain-induced frenzy they would attack each other until the last of them would be gone. A lot of huntsmen were going to have to look for a change of career.

With Tyrian and Watts dead and Salem laying sprawled on the ground, the stillness of her body broken by occasional jerks and twitches, Hazel could feel the fight being sucked out of him.

His shoulders dropped as he turned to the window. A lone figure was crouching on the windowsill, clearly a woman, although her red cape was hiding her face. He stared at her asking himself if this was going to be the last thing he would see, but the woman ignored him altogether, much more focused on the burning matchstick in her hand. His nerves were running rampart as the first was quickly followed by another, and by the time she lit up a third one he couldn't stand it anymore.

"Aren't you going to finish the job?" he asked, opening his arms like he was welcoming his fate.

Even then, she didn't answer immediately, watching intently as the lick of flames consumed the short splint of wood. She got back from wherever she was lost in only after it gave its last blaze of light and died, staring at him for a moment, then she simply stood up and readjusted her hood. "My work is already done here." She croaked. She turned around, ready to leave, but then looking over her shoulder she added "Revenge won't bring her back, nor will it give you peace. _I know._"

A flutter of petals and she wasn't there anymore, leaving Hazel behind to contemplate her words. There was nothing more she could say to him and she still had a message to deliver. Oh, and as a personal project, one last target too: Weiss Schnee.

-o-o-o-

Headmaster Ozpin had just one foot out of the elevator and into his office, but he already sensed something was amiss. His eyes roamed the room but nothing seemed to be wrong, no presence hiding in the shadows, no broken windows or any other trace of intrusion. Everything was as he left the night before. Well, aside the heavy looking envelope with his name scribbled on it sitting on his desk.

He spent a moment thinking if open it or set it ablaze, but in the end he decided that the risk of danger was low. True, It _could_ have been a trap, but whoever left it there had been crafty enough to break unnoticed into his office, if they wanted him dead they would have settled for something less conspicuous.

But even with his numerous, different existences, even with years after years of experience, he couldn't stop his brow to raise up to his hair as he opened the envelope.

Several bullet cases rolled out of it, on each a name was scratched hastily: some of them weren't familiar, but those he already knew were of the people who posed a major threat to Remnant. And if he was correct in understanding the message, they wouldn't anymore.

Any form of doubt still lingering was quickly dispelled by the short note accompanying them.

"_They're all dead, I took care of it, no need to thank me. Salem is as good as too, just leave her alone and in a couple of centuries she'll be gone. At least her body will. Or just the grimm part, dunno, don't ask. _

_Oh, I left Hazel alive, he didn't deserve to be killed. Have fun._

_And you should hurry to your basement, Amber is probably already pissed off, yanno, awakening in a steel box isn't nice._"

He didn't even had the time to recover from the shock that his scroll pinged, notifying a message. Then another. And another, and another, and another and so on. All of them were reports about grimms behaving strangely. The strongest were mindlessly attacking each other, the younger and weakest just evaporated.

He might not know the details of what happened, but one thing was sure, the world was going to change.

-o-o-o-

Young Ruby Rose was a nervous wreck, but considering what she was going to do she could hardly blame herself. Not after the years of inner-debating and the millennia of pining. Ok, maybe they were just days and months, but they felt longer. Anyway, she had made up her mind and she was going to make her move on Weiss, and what better chance than the upcoming ball at Beacon? Ok, it was a tad bold, but she hoped Weiss would appreciate the… well, the boldness.

She had it all planned: getting Weiss into Vale, take her to that half secluded and very romantic spot in the park, confess and then…

Heh, that was it, right? That 'then'. Because it was going to be 'and then kiss her with everything she got' or 'and then run away crying and hide for a couple of years'. And she really, really hoped for the former, although the latter was still a possibility and what would she do in that case? Was she going to leave Beacon and give up on her dream to become a huntress and spend the rest of her life alone in a cave deep in Vacuo and the locals will refer at her like the crazy old lady that once was a girl who….

Ruby shook her head, it wouldn't do to dwell on something that depressing. She was scared, of course, but she knew that she had to act, or nothing would ever happen and one day some jerk would steal Weiss away from her. And _that_ was even scarier.

So, there she was, with Weiss, a few blocks away from the park and it was time to set her plan into motion. And the first thing she had to do was calm down and stop running around or sooner or later she would bump into someone and…

"Oooof!" something very strange happened. Just a moment before, Ruby was - admittedly, a little mindlessly - walking on her two feet, so how came that now she was sitting on her… "Owie!" she whined, rubbing her offended bottom. Most probably she had crashed into a wall, because only a wall could have been that hard, although it wasn't hard like usually walls were, she had her fill of them when she was learning to control her semblance. And really, who would ever build a wall in the middle of the sidewalk? Not considering that the wall was extending a hand to help her up.

So, ok, it wasn't a wall-wall but a person-wall. A person wall, she noticed, with a black and yellow prosthetic hand, with something resembling a dust chamber crammed into it. Looking beyond that hand there was a tallish woman and… that was all she could say. Everything else was under a frayed cape not dissimilar to her own, just waaaay older and worn out, the hood hiding her face entirely, but a small part of her chin and mouth.

"You ok, kiddo?" asked the person-wall with a raspy voice as she hauled Ruby back on her feet.

"Yeah, thank you." she said, patting away some dust from her combat skirt "And sorry for crashing into you, I wasn't looking where I was going. I mean, no, I _was_ looking, but I was distracted because… huu… not my day?" her mind went back to what she was going to do with Weiss and immediately her cheeks went on fire. "Or maybe it will be? I still don't know aaand I'm rambling. Again. It happens when I'm nervous and today I super-nervous for… reasons?"

The woman just tilted her head but before she could say anything, a shrill voice called from somewhere down the street "Ruby! Ruby Rose!". Ruby winced, Weiss seemed pretty pissed. Well, she often seemed pissed even if she wasn't really. Although she was _always_ pretty.

"Seems your girlfriend's looking for you." the woman commented and Ruby went from blushing to BLUSHING, all capitals.

"She's not my girlfriend..." she stuttered out, then chuckled nervously "...yet? Maybe later?" Ruby slammed a hand on her mouth, her eyes widened. Did she really just revealed her secret of secrets to a total stranger? It was probably time to leave, before she could embarrass herself even more.

"Hu... yeah, well, sorry again, but I think I should go now, you know, my friend and everything..." She took a step back, starting to turn around but the metal hand grabbed her wrist, dragging her back.

"Hey, what…" Ruby's protest died in her mouth. The woman's hood had fallen back a little by the sudden movement and most of her face was now in plain sight. Long-ish dark hair with red tips, an eye covered by a purple eyepatch with a _very familiar_ stitching. The remaining eye held so much intensity to freeze her in place. And it was shining silver. Not gray, not light blue, nope, she was sure about that. It was the same color she saw every time she looked in a mirror after all.

Too stunned, she didn't react when the woman leaned in to whisper in her ear, but her breath hitched at her words. "Don't invite her to the ball, Weiss will freak out and reject you." she murmured. "Let her go with the blue douche and then ask her for a dance. She'll be at your feet in no time. _Trust me._"

Ruby worked her mouth like a goldfish, and only with an extreme amount of effort her brain rebooted enough to let her ask with perfect eloquence "What?…. Who?… how?"

Marvelous how in her mind they might have been fully constructed questions - "_What do you mean? Who are you? How do you know it?_" - but that was all she could force herself to say. Not that it would have changed anything, since the stranger - because she was a stranger, right? - didn't seem inclined to say anything else.

And while she was trying to remember how to properly breathe, again came Weiss' voice - this time even closer - so Ruby did what every human being would do, that is glance in the direction of the voice. It had been just an instant, a heartbeat, a blink of the eye, but when she focused again on the woman, there was nothing. No metal hand, no cape, no silver eye.

A sparse cloud of small things fluttered in front of her and Ruby quickly snatched one with her hand. She almost wished she hadn't. Because they might have been a little wilted, a little burnt at the edges, but there was no mistake. Those little things slowly falling on the ground were rose petals. Red rose petals, exactly like hers.

She was saved from a very dangerous train of thoughts by a dainty hand grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around. Well, at least this time there were no mysteries about who the person was, since she found herself facing the very pretty and absolutely pissed off heiress she loved so much. Yeah, even when she seemed ready to tear her to pieces. Bless her, she must be a bit of a masochist.

"Ruby Rose!" she addressed her "You better calm down this instant, you…. You… hyperactive dolt!"

Ruby shuffled her feet and tried to put on her most apologetic smile, thumping her indexes together "Sorry Weiss, I thought I saw someone…"

Weiss sighed and released her hold, why did Ruby have to be _so_ adorable? It made it so difficult to stay mad at her. "Fine, fine, forget about it." she muttered, then "So, you said you had plans for today, didn't you?"

And for an hours-long second, Ruby's world froze. Yes, she had plans indeed, but they didn't include a strange person _that she totally wasn't going to guess who she might have been_ appearing out of nowhere with some ominous predictions, only to disappear into thin air after telling her to do the exact opposite of what she actually wanted to do.

So now Ruby Rose was at a crossroad. Literally and figuratively. Take the left, and they would be at the park, take the right and they would find that little cafè she knew Weiss would love.

She shook the cobwebs out of her head, she had a decision to make, and she had to do it quickly. She clenched her fists tightly, even more conscious of that single rose petal that she was still holding in her hand, and she knew what she was going to do.

"Hu… Yeah, " she said "there actually is a place where I want to take you…"

-o-o-o-

Hiding in the shadows of a nearby alley, future-Ruby watched intently her younger self. She remembered that day too well, the confession, the heartbreak, the ensuing shouting match. Weeks without even talking, months to stop being awkward around each other. And it took 3 years and a too-near brush with death to finally admit their feelings. So, no, even if in this timeline Jacques was gone - the main reason Weiss reacted so badly the first time - the confession was a no-go. Weiss might have been physically freed from his tyranny, but her mind was a different thing altogether..

And about the advice… Ok, she wasn't sure about it, but it was something Weiss told her sometimes later. It was meant to be a joke, but Ruby sensed a lot of truth behind it. True, it probably wouldn't have worked for her, but this time Weiss father _was_gone. That must amount to something, right? Right?

An yet, the young pair was still standing in the middle of that crossroad, with Ruby looking alternatively now to one side, now to the other. She was deciding, and that was a good sign, but the wait was killing her.

"C'mon, minime, you _know_ you can trust me. Don't make me leave with this cliffhanger." she murmured. Seconds trickled like hours, until finally they moved to walk away… taking the street on the right.

Ruby grunted and clicked a finger gun toward Weiss "Bang! Heartshot, Princess!" She didn't know what was going to happen from now on, but she did the best she could: giving them a chance in a better world, without…

Her musing was interrupted by an annoying alarm, coming from the infamous black device. She took it out and read the display: 1%.

Ruby sighed, but she knew it was going to happen. Boxing someone's semblance was good and handy and everything (besides the little detail that was the donor's death) but it came with a substantial flaw. A semblance was tied to its owner, who acted as a living battery to power it. Sure, they were able to take it away, store it, make it usable by anyone. What they weren't able to do was to recharge it, something about soul and aura, she didn't know. How long or how many times it could be used varied, but sooner or later the residual power would be depleted and the semblance lost forever.

And if it happened that a particular semblance was the only thing keeping you safe from the flow of time, as soon as it would be gone you would immediately take on your deserved role of living paradox, with all the consequences that implied.

They told her right from the start there wouldn't be a coming back, it was a one-way trip mission and she was fine with it. She saw too much, fought too much, lost too much, cried too much. She was tired, her only wish to finally be able to rest. Maybe there was an afterlife waiting for her - hopefully Weiss would be there to welcome her. More probably she would simply disappear, as she never existed. There was no place for _two_ Ruby Roses and her current younger self was the one who had the right to carry on. If she had to be honest, it didn't matter to her.

She looked back to the young girls, young Ruby was skipping beside Weiss, probably ready to run ahead to the next shining thing that would catch her attention. Something Weiss apparently knew as well, since she grabbed Ruby's hand tightly, a faint pink coloring her cheeks, stuttering something - she couldn't hear her but she would bet it was about not getting separated. A neat excuse that didn't explain why she intertwined their fingers, nor the rosy blush on her cheeks.

And as the device blared its last, final alarm, Ruby smiled.


End file.
